76 -- Record, Duplicate, Package, and Distribute Cassette Magazines

The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), Library of Congress (LOC), provides reading materials in recorded and braille formats to U.S. residents and U.S. citizens living abroad who are unable to use conventional print materials because of visual and physical limitations. Each year, more than 23 million books and magazines are circulated to these groups. Reading materials (books and magazines) are produced by contractors for NLS, and are distributed to a readership in excess of 700,000 through a network of over 135 regional and sub-regional libraries for blind and physically handicapped individuals. These organizations are operated by states, municipalities, or other agencies. In addition, books are distributed to schools, multi-state centers, and veterans’ hospitals throughout the nation and U.S. territories. NLS has about 110,000 titles in its collection and adds 2,500 titles annually. Books are circulated to patrons primarily through the mail from their network libraries located in their jurisdictions. Additionally, several magazines are distributed on a weekly, monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly schedule, and catalogs, bibliographies, and newsletters are distributed on an annual, quarterly or bi-monthly schedule. The Library has a current requirement for a contractor to record, duplicate, package, and distribute cassette magazines in accordance with the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped Specifications #202, #304, #404, #410, #704, and #1204 of this solicitation. All questions should be directed to the Contracting Officer via email.//MODIFICATION TO PREVIOUS NOTICE - "A question has come up regarding the bid for Talking Book Topics (TBT3) for 2006. In Table A of the solicitation, there is no request for separate bids for printing the order forms, for added four-page segments for the order forms, or for packaging, labeling, and distribution. For this bid, the price of these items is to be included in the bid price per cassette."